Instead of a middle sized dog, it's a whole pack in full cry

The media-fuelled opposition to the proposed UK Gambling Bill reforms continued for a second week in mainstream British and international media, and amidst the furore it is becoming increasingly unlikely that an early finalisation can be achieved.

One observer commented rather dryly that in view of the extensive consultation and public participation program which preceded the publication of the hopefully final proposals last week, the government had expected an easier ride. Instead, he said "....the media and many MPs professed themselves astonished. Ministers say they expected a "middle-sized dog nibbling at their ankles by now, not the pack in full cry".

The opposition seems to be centred on the land casino aspects of the reforms and fears of too many large casinos in regional British locations, and the Internet gambling legalisation aspect has barely been mentioned.

But every other aspect of the issue has been minutely scrutinised and debated, including past statements of those involved and accusations that the government was interested only in raising taxes rather than sincere regulation - a charge Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied.

Midweek, the Guardian carried a story that looked at possible causes for the uproar, and opined that these could be many and diverse, from Cabinet disagreements and taxation claims and the sweeping wording of the Budd Report with references to 'Las Vegas-style' casinos to the relatively untried civil service team which had to take the intiative further and thrice had to tighten up its proposals. A memo written by Nick Bent, Ms Jowell's special adviser, says the Gambling Bill "will be revenue neutral for HM Treasury". Leading tax analysts say for this to happen the tax rate would have to drop from the current level of 40 per cent to between 15 and 20 per cent.

Another contributing factor was the composition of the joint select committee, where all but two of the MPs and peers who examined the issues in detail had interests, personal or professional, in gambling or racing, including the chairman, Tory MP John Greenway. Officials now admit the issue was "so boring" that the whips could only get such people on the committee. They made 139 mainly technical suggestions, but the strongly critical Daily Mail says it was rigged.

Allegations of multi million dollar lobbying by giant US land casino companies are also cited, and even a publicity photo of cabinet member Tessa Jowell posing as a croupier was used in the Daily Mail's "Kill the Casino Bill." The picture, taken at London's Gala Casino in March 2002 on the day the government's gambling white paper was published, was seen at the time as the perfect opportunity to illustrate the reforms. Politically inspired motives and the absence from the UK of Ms. Jowell on a family matter at a critical juncture are also suggested.

There was no sign of the row diminishing as we went to press. ICM Polling showed that only 34% of the public supporting the casino expansion plan against 53% who want to see it halted. ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,001 adults aged 18 and over by telephone between October 22-24, 2004. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults

Negotiations stalled, now it's time for action

Caribbean Net News reports that it appears as if last week's meeting between the US and Antiguan delegations regarding the WTO ruling on Internet gambling did not resolve the issue - the islanders are now demanding release of the report, which is said to be damaging to the US case that Internet gambling is illegal.

The report quotes Ministry of Finance and the Economy announcements that indicate that Antigua has triggered the process that will ultimately lead to the release of the Final Report by the World Trade Organization Panel. The panel had previously issued a ruling on the dispute between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States, on the provision of Internet Gaming Services to the United States by Antiguan-based gaming operators.

“Over a period of four months, we explored and fully exhausted every possible opportunity to reach a mutually agreeable resolution to our dispute with the United States,” said Dr Errol Court, Minister of Finance and the Economy.

“We held five face-to-face meetings with various branches of the US government, but ultimately, we concluded that the elements necessary for an amicable resolution would not be forthcoming at this time from the United States,” he added.

“At the conclusion of our last meeting, it was fairly obvious to me and my delegation that the time had now come for us to take the next logical step and call for the release of the Panel’s Final Report,” he concluded.

“It comes as something of a bit of disappointment for us,” said Harold Lovell, Minister of Tourism, Foreign Affairs, International Transport and Trade, who participated in the final high-level meeting. “Our delegation presented a number of proposals for the US’ consideration, but, sadly, they were not prepared to accept them,” he said. “What they offered as an alternative was not acceptable to us,” he added.

Officials at the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, the Ministry with the responsibility for this issue, indicated that the US has been given 10 working days notice of Antigua and Barbuda’s intent to request the WTO Panel to release its Final Report.

New Tomb Raider video slot has a ton of features

Trident group casinos King Neptunes Casino and Trident Lounge are among the first on the Internet to offer a new video slot game with a face that is instantly recognisable worldwide - the highly successful Tomb Raider and Lara Croft theme.

This interactive jungle adventure game has gone beyond famous - it is legendary and highly popular with both gamers and the public at large following print and film expansion of the original PC game concept. Trident's games supplier, Microgaming has scored something of an international coup in licensing the concept from the Eidos and Core Design companies.

The game has been developed as a 5 reel, 15 payline, multiple coin video slot, with a Wild and Scatter Symbol, Bonus Feature and Free Spins. Tomb Raider is the first bonus game where the player can win entry into the bonus game from the Free Spins.

Players can bet up to 5 coins on each of the 15 paylines, taking the maximum wager per spin to 75 coins in a range of denominations from a cent right through to a dollar.

The razor sharp, richly coloured graphics carry an exotic jungle treasure theme full of mysterious golden idols, magnificent tigers, the familiar Tomb Raider motif and of course the inimitable Lara Croft herself. With the right combinations, a wide variety of entertaining bonuses, scatters, free spins and wild symbol rewards are possible, most contributing to the end payline.

And what a jackpot that can be at 7 500 coins on a maximum bet of 15 lines x 5 coins per payline at $1 each. Winnings of $37 500 are achievable, and with the free spin x 3 multiplier feature that reward can soar to $112 500.

In the game, the Tomb Raider motif is wild and substitutes for all symbols except scatters and bonus idols. 3, 4 or 5 bonus idols on the active payline will trigger an entertaining Tomb Bonus where rewards are added to payline wins. This can be triggered during free spins, too and choices of 3, 4 or 5 reward idols from a selection of 12 displayed in a hidden rocky tomb is offered to the player.

Trident's Scott Gaines says that the game has some of the best and most imaginative features, digital sound effects and graphics yet seen on the Internet. "This is a thoroughly outstanding game offering features that will make for exciting and rewarding play for hours,and it comes on the advanced Viper software platform" he says.

Trident is offering a special promo to celebrate the launch. Trident will add 10% to the first five players who win the $112,500 jackpot at King Neptune's Casino or Trident Lounge during the month of November. The extra 10% will bring the first five lucky player's Tomb Raider Jackpot win to $123,750. Players who visit the casinos' websites to take advantage of the Tomb Raider launch will find continuous promotions and introductory offers.

Speculation on GBP sterling 170 million deal

According to The Times, the online poker operation that Sportingbet.com is courting (see last week's InfoPowa bulletin) is Paradise Poker...and Party Poker's predecessor as top online poker site is not coming cheaply.

Sportingbet, is apparently in talks to acquire Paradisepoker, an online poker firm, for more than GBP sterling 170 million. The acquisition would almost double the size of Sportingbet, whose shares are traded on the Alternative Investment Market. It has a market value of GBP 229 million.

Sportingbet announced last week that it was in “advanced discussions” about a “potential substantial acquisition of an online poker business”.

It did not name the company it is buying, but The Times claims it has learned that the target is Tropical Paradise, which operates the Paradisepoker website from Costa Rica. The site has been on a publicity drive in Britain this year and launched a series of advertisements featuring the model Caprice.

Industry sources said that the founders of Tropical Paradise had been trying to sell the business for several months.

Last week, Sportingbet, founded in 1998 by bookmaker Mark Blandford, said its acquisition would be “significantly earnings enhancing” although it warned it was not certain a deal would be agreed.

Sportingbet was recently named the world’s leading Got2bet operator by the industry bible eGaming Review, which put it ahead of Ladbrokes and William Hill. The purchase of Partypoker would give it an even greater lead.

Sportingbet director and spokesman George Hudson told InfoPowa that he could not at this stage confirm the speculation due to Stock Exchange regulatory restrictions.

STOP PRESS: As we went to press, Reuters reports confirmed that Paradise Poker had been the target of Sportingbet's offer, and that a deal has now been signed at a purchase price of $297.5 million (GBP sterling 162.5 million).

The cash will be raised through 90 million pounds of new debt and by issuing 54.5 million new shares at 110 pence each. "Our strategy is to become the world's leading online sports betting and gaming-based entertainment business," said Chief Executive Nigel Payne. "The acquisition of Paradise Poker is a significant step forward in achieving this goal."

Sportingbet also announced pretax profit of 5.4 million pounds for the 16 months to July 31, compared to 1.4 million in the 12 months to March 31, 2003.

Leading Got2bet groups preparing IPOs

The Times reports that two of the world's biggest internet gambling companies are considering initial public offerings (IPOs) in London, the larger of which could go straight into the blue-chip FTSE 100 index. iGlobalMedia and Cassava Enterprises are based in the same building in Gibraltar, but there is no connection between them.

IGlobalMedia, best known for its PartyPoker website, is controlled by a small number of private shareholders, including Ruth Parasol, its head of international business development. The company is estimated to achieve earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of about GBP sterling 190 million (around $350 million).

Experts have opined that, given the company's rapid rate of growth, it should be able to command a valuation of well over GBP 2 billion in an IPO, giving it automatic entry to the FTSE 100. The appointment during the summer of Richard Segal, the former Odeon Cinemas boss, as chief executive has heightened speculation of an IPO.

Cassava, whose 888.com website sponsors Middlesbrough football club, is headed by John Anderson, who also runs Burford, the property firm. The company, which has Ebitda of between $80 million and $100 million, is controlled by two pairs of Israeli brothers. The majority shareholders are the Shaked brothers.

Encouraging news and views from the States...

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that when Congress returns for a lame-duck session after the election, an eight-year quest to restrict or ban Internet gambling is likely to remain unfulfilled.

In 1996, when lawmakers first sought to control Internet gambling, 30 Web sites received bets totaling $30 million.

This year, more than 1,800 Web sites are projected to accept about $7 billion in wagers, according to BetonSports.com.

By 2010, the Internet gambling market is expected to grow to $18.4 billion.

After the election, lawmakers are expected to focus on approving a budget for next year and steer clear of controversial legislation such as Internet gambling restrictions.

But Sen. Jon Kyl has been spearheading efforts to crack down on Internet gambling since 1996 and may try again next year.

"I wouldn't bet the mortgage that (Internet gambling restrictions) will pass this year, but his interest in this issue will not go away," Kyl spokesman Scot Montrey said.

The last congressional action on Internet gambling occurred more than a year ago when the Senate Banking Committee voted 19-0 on July 31, 2003, to approve restrictions Kyl proposed.

Congress appeared to have plenty of time to get a bill curtailing Internet gambling to President Bush's desk.

The House voted 319-104 on June 10, 2003, to outlaw the use of credit cards, checks and other bank instruments to pay for Internet bets.

The original version of Kyl's legislation was similar to the House bill. But the Senate Banking Committee added a provision to prevent states from authorizing online wagers within their borders. That immediately drew the opposition of the American Gaming Association, which complained the Kyl bill would favor Indian gaming and the pari-mutuel industry over mainstream casinos.

"The absence of consensus with respect to what is legal and what is carved out is going to continue to create problems," said Dan Walsh, a lobbyist for the Interactive Gaming Council, which represents online wagering companies.

So Congress is unlikely to ever approve restrictions or a ban on Internet gambling, Walsh said. What's likelier, he said, is that Congress may pass legislation to regulate Internet gambling.

That was what Rep. John Conyers proposed March 12, 2003, when he introduced a bill to create a federal commission to study the licensing and regulation of companies taking bets online.

But Conyers' bill attracted only three co-sponsors, including Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada and would have to be re-introduced in the new Congress next year to stay alive.

Joseph Kelly, a business law professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, agreed with Walsh that Conyers' proposal has a better chance.

Kelly noted that Britain is on the verge of regulating online wagering.

"It's going to be very difficult to argue that Internet gambling can't be regulated successfully if the British can do it," Kelly said.

The following InfoPowa bulletin is compiled from a press release received from Intercasino this morning...

Online casino launches V.6 software from Cryptologic

Top online brand InterCasino this week announced the launch of what it claims is "...the most sophisticated gaming software platform now available on the Internet".

The casino's software is supplied by developer CryptoLogic of Canada, and this newly developed Version 6 software adds new features and exciting games to their multi-award winning platform.

The new games include British Pontoon and world exclusive Fruit Machines, as well as, Las Vegas Downtown favorites like Casino Solitaire, Casino War; and the Latest Las Vegas strip sensations, Super Fun 21 and Bonus Video Poker.

The high-tech software suite also brings with it an improved game menu that allows players an in-game preview of games before loading them. Complementing the menu is an enhanced pop-up notification system, which better keeps players aware of new products and game upgrades.

“Version 6 keeps our technology one-step ahead of the competition,” says casino manager Ryan Hartley. “We are committed as a casino to innovation in the industry and always offer our players the best casino experience online!”

Exploiting the Donald bid?

Casino Fortune had tongues wagging with the hype surrounding their $400 million bid for a share in Donald Trump's troubled gambling interests. Trump dismissed their offer some time back but players who visited the Fortune site this week report that the Sunny Group are apparently still using the Trump image to promote themselves. One online gambler reported that a person called J.Stacie claimed that she was fired by Donald Trump as the casino's manager recently and that Casino Fortune has hired her to be its spokesperson. To celebrate the "bid," she is apparently offering all existing players 100% match bonuses. That all smacks of flogging a dead horse to us....

$85,600 Cash Paid to All Slots Online Casino Winner

All Slots Casino.com, a member of the Jackpot Factory online casino group, was celebrating the first Tunnzamunni progressive jackpot win this week.

Player JanieP scored a very cool $85,600 windfall on the new progressive, adding to a $43 000 she won four years ago on the Cash Splash progressive, and joining a select group of online gamblers who have cracked a progressive more than once.

Jackpot Factory casinos added the new Tunzamunni progressive to their games mix just over a month ago. This exciting game is Microgaming's first nickel slot designed to take jackpot enthusiasts on a thrilling jungle adventure. Tunzamunni is a 3-reel, 1 line, 5 coin game with a progressive jackpot that is re-set at 10 000 credits after each jackpot win.

When asked how she felt when she realized she'd won, Janie replied, "My husband was actually playing. He was so excited (when he won) that he woke me up. He had dreamt about winning the night before and even saw the 3 sevens in his vision."

Although she has now won big on both Cash Splash and Tunzamunni progressives, Janie is still trying her luck on her favorite progressive - Major Millions. She told Jackpot Factory, "we want the BIG ONE!"

Aussie businessman the new owner

Troubled Betcorp, the subject of several recent InfoPowa bulletins as it struggled with management changes, posted the last chapter in the disposal of ex-subsidiary Sportsbet this week.

Australian media reported that Betcorp has sold its Australian-based brand Sportsbet to an Australian businessman called John McDonald.

The decision to sell the brand was necessitated by a ruling of the Northern Territory Licensing Commission which issued Betcorp with a notice questioning the company’s right to a license last month.

The decision of the Licensing Commission occurred after a change in Betcorp’s structure resulted in Bill Scott, a reportedly convicted racketeer, becoming one of its largest shareholders. The original granting of a license for Sportingbet was done on condition that Mr Scott could not acquire control of the company.

John McDonald has purchased the company for an undisclosed amount, and NT Licensing Commission objections to the licensing has now been dropped.

However, a new condition has been imposed, stipulating that the site may not have any links to other gambling sites. The chairman of the NT Licensing Commission John Withnall said of the purchasing process: "Sportsbet had to show us that its structure was completely separate to Betcorp…we are satisfied that Mr McDonald privately and personally financed that purchase and he is the owner of Sportsbet."

Betcorp have just recorded a loss for the financial quarter ending in September, following the sale of Sportsbet. The company have attributed factors such as restructuring costs, write-offs of abandoned acquisitions and costs associated with the selling of Sportsbet for the downturn in results.

Betting exchange launches legal action

The Dutch state monopoly grip on lottery outfit De Lotto is being challenged for the second time on ground that it contravenes EU laws.

Betting exchange group Betfair has revealed that it is to contest the Dutch Government’s granting of an exclusive license to Dutch lottery operators, De Lotto, claiming that it contravenes EU laws on government gambling monopolies.

Reporting this week, the Racing Post disclosed that legal proceedings will soon be filed, following the Dutch government's rejection of Betfair’s application for a license to operate in the country. The betting exchange was allegedly kept waiting for over a year for a decision.

“Betfair believes that EU law requires the Dutch government to properly consider Betfair’s request for a licence,” Betfair’s general counsel, Justin Hubble told the press. “Simply renewing De Lotto’s exclusive licence after over a year of delay tactics and without due consideration is not only improper legally but also of detriment to the Dutch public who are a captive market for a highly uncompetitive monopoly offering. Censorship of this nature designed to protect monopolists from competition should be challenged.”

Betfair is also expected to attack moves by De Lotto to have it permanently excluded from accepting sports bets from the Netherlands. “We are hopeful that our challenge will result in the Dutch government looking again at the way it grants sports betting licences,” Hubble added.

Ladbrokes and De Lotto have previously clashed in the courts.

New survey shows that cool Britannia likes the adult sites

Latest research conducted by NetValue, an Internet usage monitoring company, shows that British Internet users are primarily interested in adult and gambling websites.

Over a third of Internet users in the British Isles, some 3,6 million people - visit adult websites and 40 percent of the top 6,000 sites are X-rated, according to The Register in reporting the survey.

Two million Netizens in Britain are now visiting gambling websites...and the number is doubling every four months.

Elsewhere, the research showed there are ten million home Internet users in Britain - an increase of 15 percent over the previous six months. And they're spending even more time online - up from nine minutes a day in December 1999 to 12 minutes a day in May.

Zone4Play signs up Avago for Hi Lo game

Zone4Play Inc, a developer and provider of multi-platform interactive game applications and solutions, announced today that its Hi-Lo game can now be played by individuals who enjoy iTV gambling and are members of Avago TV Channel aired on the BSkyB network in the United Kingdom. Avago, with over 125,000 registered users, is one of the most popular play-for-real channels in the United Kingdom. The Gaming Channel will also make the game available to its five partner channels on the BSkyB platform.

"Launching our new Hi-Lo game on the Avago channel and the five other partner channels will enable us to extend our games solutions to the subscribers on these six channels," said Idan Miller, Zone4Play VP of Marketing and Sales. "Our success in offering game and gaming solutions to key industry operators allows Zone4Play to expand its subscriber base and, through revenue-sharing agreements, increase our shareholder value."

All change at Royal Dutch
Royal Dutch Casino has been the subject of player complaints recently, and after some fencing and footwork with this outfit InfoPowa has established that the formerly IQ Ludorum powered casino is in the midst of a change of ownership.

That will include a change of software, although the new owners, who are rather coy about their identity but seem to be in Miami, Florida cannot yet say who will get their business.

We can never understand why some casinos do not communicate more honestly and openly with their players when this sort of radical change occurs...unless it has something to do with paying their clients! The new owners have provided contact details but were not clear on their intentions regarding players awaiting payment from the previous regime - it is to be hoped that they will behave honourably in that regard, and players with outstanding amounts are urged to contact them through the casino Support.

Short lived
Cape Town, South Africa based Leopard Rock Casino and its sterling counterpart Golden Circle Casino have also folded with little fanfare. It is understood that this is not a financial problem, but that the group is leaving the industry, and all outstanding player accounts will be paid. The casinos were powered by RTG software and had been operational for little more than a year.

The Irish are coming...live

Reports this week suggest that major bookmaker Paddy Power will be entering the competitive online poker room field, although we do not yet have any indication of what software they have chosen to spearhead their attempt. The Irish Sunday Business Post reports that Paddy Power is set to offer online poker as part of the company's expansion of its internet activities which are becoming increasingly profitable for the Irish company. The online poker facility will match up players with other users online in a real live game, and is expected to be available by the end of the year or early in 2005.

“Online poker is a logical extension of our current activities. We hope to have it ready in the coming months,” said a spokesman. Financial results this year for the online division of the company have been strong this year. For the first half, operating profits were valued at EUR 3.6 million, far exceeding the original forecast of EUR 1.8 million for the entire year. The online casino section of the site is believed to have contributed EUR 1 million.

The availability of poker should help boost revenues at Paddy Power's online division.

A great newbie poker story

We've just heard a story to warm the cockles of your heart about a newbie who truimphed in an online poker tournament earlier this month. It serves as a great encouragement to the many new poker players who have been attracted to the game by its huge media coverage in recent times.

Using the "handle" Zxnm" the 31-year-old cool and collected player is an Irish scaffolder who won the first Betfair online poker tournament. With a winning hand of a pair of tens he sealed a victory over more than 600 entrants and took home a GBP sterling 21,000 prize, a fifth of the total GBP 100,000 prize money, with a luxury trip for two to the Melbourne Cup in Australia next month.

“Betfair’s tournament was really great and it’s brilliant and fantastic that I won,” he said. “The small Euro 5 and Euro 10 tourneys are a great way to get experience and to learn the game. If the cards fall right, anyone can win it - everyone has a chance.”

Zxnm is a newbie who won his place in Betfair’s tournament through a GBP 10 single table satellite. He has only been playing Texas Hold’em for a year and had previously played in only one satellite tournament.

Sleepless nights for these owners...

Although it has not been fully operational for very long, the forum Insomniacs Lounge has already gathered a strong following and useful exchanges have been found on it's pages.

Operations were brought to a temporary standstill this week, however when a shocking and criminal act of hacker vandalism by as yet unknown crooks destroyed the forum content.

The owners have revealed that part of that content referred to publicly available information on Virtual Casino personnel, and critical comment based on personal experiences with the notorious Prism Casino, believed to have a close association with Virtual. The suggestion is denied by Virtual, which says that its apparently close relationship is, as was the case with Cirrus Casino in a past issue merely a case of lending a helping hand to the operation.

Arousing suspicion but perhaps coincidentally, it is alleged that a Virtual manager called Amit Jain was in contact with Insomniac's owners in the same timeframe, requesting that they remove the material and prevail upon the owner of Gambling911 to do the same (911 was also carrying the information) It is reported that Jain suggested to the Insomniac owners that they may like to enter into a covert partnership with Virtual in a new portal operation, an offer which was declined.

Jain has denied any involvement in the destruction of Insomniac's forum, and reportedly suggested to the owners that it could have been "ex-Virtual staff" in Costa Rica. And as we were going to press news was coming in that another ezboard had been hacked and destroyed. The disgraceful incidents have underlined yet again how important it is for portal owners to maintain adequate protection on their sites and back up all material.

Holland Casino tourney the biggest in Europe?

From November 6 until 13, 2004, the Holland Casino Amsterdam will host what they claim is the biggest poker tournament in Europe - The Master Classics of Europe - for the thirteenth time.

Over eight days, the best poker players from all over the world (including the US, France, Great Britain, Austria, and Germany) will try to outplay each other at the tournament.

Compared to previous years, this year's tournament is even bigger. 270 players will compete compared to 220 last year. The prize money has increased as well: Last year's prize fund was over EUR 1.4 million and this has been increased by EUR 63,000.

The Master Classics of Poker is made up of six different tournaments in which the poker games Texas Hold'em and Omaha are played. Each tournament requires an entry fee that varies from EUR 220 to EUR 5,000.

The tournaments start each day at 2 p.m. The prize funds depend on the number of players in each tournament. One percent of the total prize fund will be deducted and awarded to the "high hand of the day," which is the highest possible hand at the end of the tournament. This year, EUR 63,000 will be reserved as prize money for players ending at places 19 through 27 in the rankings.

The "main tournament" of the week, the Lido Poker Tournament, has a buy-in of EUR 5,000 and will be held for three days from Wednesday, November 10 through Friday, November 12. The winner will receive the total amount of the combined buy-in fees. Last year, the first prize of the Lido Poker Tournament was EUR 243,540.

Helping the kids - 700 players to compete in No Limit Hold Em

PartyPoker.com is to partner with ESPN Radio 710 and the Bicycle Casino in the First Annual ESPN Radio 710 Mason & Ireland Celebrity Poker Party on November 14.

Up to 700 participants are expected to compete in the No-Limit Hold 'em tournament for a guaranteed $25,000 first prize. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Steve Mason and John Ireland, hosts of ESPN Radio 710's The Big Show with Mason & Ireland will host the tournament, which will include numerous celebrity players and up to 700 KSPN listeners and Childrens Hospital doctors.

The cost to buy into the tournament is $200 plus a $30 entry fee and players have the option to buy in multiple times should they be eliminated early.

The prize pool will be determined by the number of entries and cash prizes will be awarded to the top 45 positions based on order of finish. The first place winner will receive approximately forty percent of the total prize pool with a guaranteed minimum of $25,000. Fifteen percent of the prize pool will be donated to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.

The latest operational statistics on Party Poker, which is rumoured to be about to go public in the UK make for interesting reading. Launched in August 2001, it now boasts more than five million users. The site typically hosts more than 65,000 simultaneous players playing an assortment of live classic poker games including Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Low, and Seven Card Stud and single and multi table tournaments.

Internet players can make a difference by posting

Associated Press carried an interesting story this week on using the Internet to take advantage of one of it's true powers: the ability to let users collectively decide whether to trust a product, service or individual. And it says a quarter of Americans online do just this. In the online gaming scene posters have been doing it for years, and it's very necessary as a protective measure against some of the sharks swimming in these waters. The AP report comments that such reputation systems are found on sites like eBay, where members rate fellow buyers and sellers, and Amazon.com, where customers review books and other items. Other sites are devoted to rating consumer products, movies and even schoolteachers.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 26 percent of adult Internet users have posted such ratings. More experienced and active users were more likely to have done so, as were men and younger adults.

"The more voices that are in the mix, ... the better off everybody is," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew group. "There's more wisdom in groups than there are in individuals no matter how expert they are."

Rainie said online reputation systems let users exploit the two-way capabilities of the medium and help them "feel like they are contributing to other people's decisions."

The telephone-based survey of 1,399 Internet users was conducted May 14 to June 17 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Time to get on over to your favourite message board ....

GBP 285,000 hit on top online casino

A British grandmother has had a life-changing turn of fortune - she won more than 500,000 US dollars the first time she ever played at an online casino.

Karen Gibson, 48, won the equivalent of around GBP 285,000 with only her second 3 dollar bet on a virtual slot machine. The cafe worker, who has four children and four grandchildren, did not realise just how much she had won as she did not know the exchange rate.

She told reporters: “I was totally bored and was looking at holidays on the internet when the 888.com (Casino On Net) advert popped up, so I thought I would have a little go.”

She then registered with the online casino, bought 50 dollars-worth of credits and played the Millionaire Maker virtual “slot machine” which costs 3 dollars a spin.

And on her second spin, she won 503,698.38 dollars – a randomised computer-generated jackpot funded by players all over the world.

Mrs Gibson, married to driver Brian, has barely eaten since she hit the jackpot last Friday night.

She has not decided if she will give up work but will not be moving from her two-bedroomed bungalow. The couple are keen on holidaying and will look after their children aged 27 to 16 as well.

But she has few other spending plans while her good fortune is still sinking in.

She said: “I just cannot believe it. I’m sure the kids will all buy new cars. They have always come to us for money over the years and I’ll see the joy of them spending it.”

The Middlesbrough Football Club fan (C.O.N. has interests in the club) was presented with the mammoth cheque by her favourite player Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his strike partner Mark Viduka at the club’s training ground this week.

The impressed Dutchman passed on his congratulations, adding: “We’re going to have to have to get online.”

Matt Robinson, marketing manager for 888.com, said Karen was the biggest female online winner yet, adding “We see winners as good news and quite simply, the bigger the better."

BetCRIS attack was ultimately their downfall

InfoPowa was pleased to report the arrest earlier this year of a Russian DDoS group following an international investigation, and this week an article in the LA Times revealed some fascinating and almost 007-like details on the bust.

The attackers' downfall started innocuously enough with standard criminal assaults and extortion demands on the BetCRIS site. They chose the wrong guy, because owner Mickey Richardson decided to fight them and brought in Sacramento expert Barrett Lyon in the absence of help from the Costa Rican authorities. Lyon had successfully consulted for a number of gambling operations facing similar problems and he eventually devised a formidable technological shield that protected Richardson's site. During the process, Lyon's team often found themselves fighting technical duels with the extortionists who would launch counter measures to their efforts.

The defenses held. But Lyon was already thinking about offense, and he embarked on a daring Internet undercover project worthy of James Bond himself. He turned spy, remotely tracking the crooks and inserting his fictional would-be DDoS persona into IRC channels where he built up a profile as a bot program author from Vancouver, Canada, who had 250 machines under his control. He watched as chat participants monitored attacks on Microsoft.com and BetCRIS.com.

During hours of online talks from January to March of this year, Lyon ingratiated himself with the crooks and communicated with them.

One, nicknamed "eXe," began making mistakes. He logged on from his home Internet service provider. A private file transfer gave away his true Internet address. And as late-night conversations turned social, he let slip his real first name — Ivan — and that he was a 21-year-old college student in Russia.

Overcoming territorial enforcement reservations Lyon started helping the British National High-Tech Crime Unit following increasing attacks on European sites by the Russian hackers. In a meeting in Los Angeles with the FBI and British agents, Lyon passed along what he and his team had learned. "They were of significant assistance," a senior police officer confirmed.

The ultimate "gotcha" came shortly after the L.A. meeting, when the hacker eXe used that same handle on an IRC network that listed a private e-mail address for him. Other records showed that the domain name in that e-mail address—"security-system.cc" — was owned by an Ivan Maksakov.

Armed with the results from the extorted money trail and Lyon's information, the British authorities went to the Russian Interior Ministry and suggested several arrests, including that of Maksakov, who lived in Saratov. In late July, police picked him up, along with a 23-year-old St. Petersburg man and a 24-year-old in Stavropol. Two other suspects are being sought.

Most known members of the ring are students who communicated entirely online, Interior Ministry spokesman Anatoly Platonov said.

The group had taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars in extortion money, and including lost profits at the bookmakers, at least two major banks and other targets, the ring caused about $90 million in damage.

Lyon has mixed feelings about the sting against Maksakov, who told Lyon he made only $2,000 a month for fairly sophisticated work. "It's not going to get better with one or two kids put in prison," Lyon said.

But that's good for his new business, Prolexic Technologies Inc., which is based in Hollywood, Fla. His sting operation for BetCRIS produced a dozen clients. Prolexic is on track to bring in $2 million this year.

DDoS crooks threaten reputations

The DDoS criminals have added a new element to their attacks on Internet gambling companies...in addition to the customary threat to paralyse a site, they are promising to conduct porno campaigns in the name of the victim in order to destroy its reputation, reports the Financial Times.

This week, a leading UK online betting company was threatened with a child pornography smear campaign unless it paid out several thousand euros.

The threat to Blue Square takes attacks by cyber criminals on internet companies to a new level. Their usual tactics have been to paralyse websites and thus halt trading by sending thousands of bogus requests for information to them, making them impossible for the public to access.

The companies are then contacted by the hackers and told they will be attacked again unless they pay. In July, the UK's Hi-Tech Crime Unit and their Russian counterparts arrested suspected ringleaders of a blackmail gang in raids in Russia.

Blue Square's website was inaccessible for five hours at the start of the week as hackers began bombarding the site. The company was then sent an e-mail demanding that Euro 7,000 (GBP4,860) be paid to an online website, or it would be attacked again with greater severity.

The blackmailers followed this up on the following day with a phone call, threatening to send child pornography e-mails in the company's name, unless the money was paid within two days.

“This takes it on to a different league,” said Peter Pedersen, IT director at Blue Square. “It has upped the ante, the gloves are off. Once child pornography is involved, it changes everything.”

The Hi-Tech Crime Unit is thought to be investigating more than one extortion attempt of this nature. Bookmaker William Hill said its website had been under attack this week too, but it had not received a threat related to child porn.

Individual PC security sadly lacking says report

Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, according to a nationwide inspection by researchers. They found most consumers have no firewall protection, outdated antivirus software and dozens of spyware programs secretly running on their computers.

A survey by the National Cyber Security Alliance found that one of the beleaguered home users in the government-backed study had more than 1,000 spyware programs running on his sluggish computer when researchers examined it. Another family's 3-year-old Dell computer was found infected with viruses and more than 600 pieces of spyware surreptitiously monitoring online activities.

The Internet always has had its share of risky neighborhoods and dark alleys. But with increasingly sophisticated threats from hackers, viruses, spam e-mails and spyware, trouble is finding computer users no matter how cautiously they roam online.

The study being released by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance found that 77 percent of 326 adults in 12 states assured researchers in a telephone poll they were safe from online threats. Nearly as many people felt confident they were already protected specifically from viruses and hackers.

When experts visited those same homes to examine computers, they found two-thirds of adults using antivirus software that was not updated in at least seven days.

Two-thirds of the computer users also were not using any type of protective firewall program, and spyware was found on the computers of 80 percent of those in the study.

The survey participants all were AOL subscribers selected in 22 cities and towns by an independent market analysis organization.

The alliance, a nonprofit group, is backed by the Homeland Security Department and the Federal Trade Commission, plus leading technology companies, including Cisco Systems, Microsoft, eBay and Dell.

"It is very complicated for the average home user," said Ari Schwartz, an expert on Internet threats for the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington civil liberties group.

"There's a lack of accountability all around, from consumers who don't believe they should have to do this to companies who blame the consumer. It's finger-pointing back and forth," Schwartz said.

Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates says the company spent nearly $1 billion on its recent upgrade to improve security for customers using the latest version of its Windows software. AOL purchased full-page advertisements in major newspapers this month pledging better security for its subscribers. Dell has begun a campaign to educate customers how to detect and remove spyware themselves.

The government is increasingly involved, too.

The FTC this month filed its first federal court case over spyware. The House overwhelmingly approved two bills to increase criminal penalties and fines over spyware. The Homeland Security Department offers free e-mail tips for home Internet users to keep themselves secure.

Major online poker room links with European land casinos

The worldwide poker phenomenon is making its way into some of the world’s most beautiful casinos in some of the world’s most historic cities as PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) makes its way through Europe.

PokerStars is host to some of the world’s largest online tournaments and the EPT includes poker tour events in Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna and Dublin.

The Grand Final event will be held March 15-19, 2005 in the majestic Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. Prize money is expected to be more than EUR 2 million for the final event alone, with well more than EUR 1 million going to the winner.

“Finally, Europe will host a premier poker tour, as the EPT is the first pan-European poker tournament series,” says John Duthie, executive producer of the PokerStars European Poker Tour and the holder of the Ladbrokes Poker Million title. “All across Europe, from casinos to online sites like PokerStars, interest in poker is booming, so it’s only natural to provide a circuit for the serious European poker player.”

Each event will be televised in 2005 as a 90-minute program, and will culminate with the airing of the Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Winners of the preliminary events will win prize packages worth EUR 15,000, including entry into the finals at the elegant Hermitage Hotel in Casino Square, Monte Carlo.

The final event in Monte Carlo will include 10 finalists and runners-up selected from the EPT preliminary events. Those players will then compete for the title of EPT Series 1 Grand Champion.

Players from all over the world will also have an opportunity to play in the Grand Final event. Online satellite tournaments for the Grand Final event in Monaco will be played on PokerStars.com, and winners of those satellite events will receive the same prize package as winners of the individual live events on the tour.

“Our affiliation with the EPT shows that PokerStars truly is the global site where poker players become champions,” said Nolan Dalla of PokerStars. “This year’s EPT champion will join an illustrious list of PokerStars champions, which includes World Series of Poker champs Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker, both of whom qualified for the World Series of Poker on PokerStars, and Edgar Skjervold, who won this year’s PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker, which is the largest online poker tournament in the world.”

Charity benefits growing

There was more positive PR for poker this week when the Boston Herald commented that the game might well be the new bingo among the young fund-raising set, and that legions of followers from grandpas to teenagers were enjoying the game.

The report quoted WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb in estimating the number of regular players at a whopping ``50 to 80 million'' - between home, online and casino games and revealed that last week in Massachusetts alone, 100 home games were listed on Homepokergames.com, a site connecting players with local games.

Nearby Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Conn., reports a poker-revenue leap of 60 percent over last year, with ``almost half the table under 30 (years old),'' according to poker-operations director Kathy Raymond.

But now there's a new twist to the trend, claims the Herald: Charity poker tournaments, run by 20- and 30-somethings, champion everything from high school track teams to religious groups to foundations for diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

"My dad does a lot of charity work, and I see that it's very fulfilling for him,'' said Dracut's Craig Chemaly, 25, a legislative assistant who plays Texas Hold 'Em five times a week, mostly online. "I wondered: How can I combine that (feeling) on a constant basis with something that I love?'' The answer was simple: Start a company that plans and runs charity poker tournaments.

Chemaly could handle the business side but he needed a seasoned pro to host the games. So through the Internet newsgroup rec.gambling.poker, he contacted Roslindale's Ashley Adams, author of the 2003 book 'Winning 7-Card Stud.' Adams is the ``poker guru of Boston,'' according to a north-of-Boston player named Justin, 30.

Chemaly and Adams' month-old business, called Raise It Up, already has four clients, including the Ayer Rotary Club, which plans a $75 buy-in event for 144 people next month to benefit the Loaves & Fishes food pantry, according to ex-Rotary Club president Christopher Lilly, 38. That and other calls came after Adams served as emcee at a tournament that raised $17,000 to benefit a Connecticut chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

"I'm not playing, but I'm winning,'' said Jason Daloia, 32, of Stamford, Conn., a "huge fan of poker'' who organized the MS event.

"If people who play poker on a regular basis gave even one-tenth of 1 percent of what they wager - a tithe of a tithe of a tithe - that would be at least $10 million a year,'' said Adams, 47, who's raised as much as $3,000 at poker soirees at his West Roxbury temple, Hillel B'nai Torah. "It would be good for the game and good for the world.''

Watertown's Michael Zildjian, 30, agrees. Zildjian, like many poker converts, is an avid watcher of ESPN's "World Series of Poker'' and Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown'' as well as Lipscomb's "World Poker Tour.'' He plays a few times a month with friends, at casinos and often online to hone his skills - mostly at partypoker.com and pokerstars.com.

Zildjian recently launched the Waltham-based poker-apparel business GMY Co. The partners are trying to persuade the cultural center connected to their church, St. Stephen's Armenian Apostolic in Watertown, to hold regular Texas Hold 'Em charity tournaments, with a portion of the entrance fees going directly to the facility. GMY would sell its T-shirts and hats at the games and donate a portion of sales to the center.

"Today Poker is the hottest emerging sport in the country,'' Lipscomb said. "The people standing around the rail watching the event (used to be) that no-spring-chicken crowd. Now it's the hippest, coolest crowd you can possibly imagine: male and female - gorgeous.''

Perhaps common sense will prevail at last

Remember that crazy and draconian electronic games law the Greek government passed some time back?

Finally the European Court of Justice, set up in 1952 under the Treaty of Paris, will review the Greek law, dated July 2002, concerning the ban on computer games (including those offered at Internet cafes). The European Commission announced last week that it will take Greece to court over the law.

Avoiding the perils of criminal gambling

The Herald Sun in Australia carried a report this week on a federal government suggestion that school math classes should be used to stop children being caught in "...an explosion of problem gambling."

Community Services Minister Kay Patterson wants to teach secondary students about the odds of becoming a betting loser, says the newspaper and points out that in its first major policy move since the election, the Howard Government is preparing an assault on gambling. More than a quarter of Australia's problem gamblers are under 25.

Senator Patterson said new prevention strategies were needed to stop young people getting hooked and becoming hardcore gamblers for life.

"We might need to tackle them differently to older groups,' Senator Patterson told the Herald Sun.

"Perhaps you could do it in classes with mathematics, in probabilities – so that people could realise the likelihood of them winning. It's one way of showing how mathematics can be applied in everyday life."

Pokerchamps.com is looking cool and is set to launch tomorrow after running in Beta for a while. It looks as if a lot of thought has gone into this site, which is hosted by three times WPT winner Gus Hansen and powered by some pretty impressive proprietary software. Take a look at the 4 in 1 screen feature, wealth of information and freeroll daily tourneys, and the Bonus Cashflow reward system is an interesting and innovative departure from the usual signup bonuses and the hassle these can entail. This offers players a fifty percent rake back with weekly payments - they use an example of 3 hours play a day at $5 and $10 tables delivbering a weekly $100. There's 24/7 Support for the gaming, which includes Texas Hold Em, with Omaha, Omaha Hi Lo, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud Hi Lo to follow. The licensing is Maltese under Pokerchamps Limited. The poker room has not joined any of the existing networks, but will be working with selected gambling sites and is to offer opportunities at WPT, WSOP, Speed Championships & Aussie Millions.

Poker333.com is owned by the African-based Piggs Peak land and online casino people and part of the Prima Poker network, which now boasts 28 poker rooms and some 200 000 regular players. It offers a good range of quality Microgaming poker variants, with full Support. The site presentation is average but has all the facilities you need, and there's a buy $60 and get $30 free first time offer.

Still with poker sites, Boss Media has launched Fastpoker.com which belongs to Penny Lane Holdings out of the British Virgin Islands. Players can gamble in dollars, euros and British pounds on the professionally presented site, where the good quality games are backed by 24/7 email, freefone and livechat Support. The poker room is a sister to a new online casino (see below) from the same group.

Casinocraze.com is owned by Penny Lane Holdings out of BVI and comes with the somewhat dated but still good quality Boss Media gambling suite. The site is well presented and carries 24/7 fully contactable Support with multi-denominational facilities through WebDollar. Take note of the bonusing here - Full matchplay on signups maxed at $100, and then $50 on a second deposit and $25 on a third.

Parlay-DCEG have provided the sixty game including progressives gambling suite for Euro777.com which is an English - German language online casino owned by Global Gaming Entertainment of Curacao. The site is well executed and carries Support and a good range of Euro-based financial options that includes Moneybookers, PaySafe and EasyDebit. The Support was responsive when we checked it out, and seems to be based in Spain. On offer is a fifty percent signup maxed at Euro 250.

New from RTG for operator Mulle International Corporation is Miss Millions.com registered in Panama City. This average looking site carries all facilities such as fully contactable Support , 8 language options and a good selection of financing options together with the standard and good quality download RTG gambling suite. We believe there are other casino operations in this group, notably Fortuna, Lucky Fortuna and High Rollers Casino Club. Players should pay very careful attention to the T&C's, which have a high WT and a cap on withdrawals.

Got your Barcelona air tickets yet?

With under 2 weeks to go, EiG 2004 - The European i-Gaming Congress & Expo, 8-10 November 2004, Hotel Melia Sitges, near Barcelona, Spain - is drawing ever closer.

Interesting and provocative conference sessions and speakers will highlight EiG's seminars, while innovative exhibitors show their latest products and services - all of which adds up to the most productive and educational event for Europe's I-gaming industry.

Visit http://www.eigexpo.com/2004/?page=exdirectory for a list of participating companies

Footnote

The InfoPowa coven sends Salems and best wishes for a terrifying Halloween to all our readers.

It doesn't look like an easy ride...

The British government published it's long awaited but controversial Gambling Bill this week, designed to dramatically update gambling laws in the United Kingdom.

The Bill was immediately a focus of attention and debate between supporters, detractors and government spokesmen, and made headline news in mainstream media across the world.

Critics seemed mainly concerned with the implications for land-based gambling through large US investment in regional Vegas-style casinos, and with what they perceived to be the threat of increased addictive and underage gambling. Internet gambling, which is to be legalised under stringent regulations, did not appear to be the main point of discussion.

Former welfare minister Frank Field warned there would be "no turning back" once the door had been opened to the US giants. Supersized "regional casinos", which ministers believe will regenerate run-down areas, would no longer have to be sited in "permitted" areas and will be open to the public rather than operating as 24-hour membership clubs. Others will be designated "large" and "small" where lower prize money can be played for on slot machines.

Publishing the bill, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell said: "It is nearly forty years since Parliament last had the opportunity to take a serious look at our gambling laws and it's not just attitudes that have changed since then. The technological revolution has touched all our lives and the gambling industry is no exception.

"Internet gambling and roulette machines in bookmakers are just two examples of where laws introduced nearly ten years before the first home computer hit the shelves are no longer able to protect children or vulnerable people properly."

Lord McIntosh, the minister responsible for the new legislation, said the critics were missing the point of the reforms. "I've never known a bill be so misunderstood," he said. "More than 90 per cent of this bill is about [new] protection and not about casinos. It's about keeping out crime and cheating and introducing new protections for children and adults who may be vulnerable to problem gambling."

Frank Field, the former welfare minister, said on GMTV: "I think the government is off its rocker thinking, even if it was the first year of a parliament, that it would actually get this through. And once they actually let this tide of big money from America come in in this way there will be no turning it back".

Under the bill, which on Tuesday had its first reading in parliament, a tough new gambling regulator will be established with the power to hit operators with fines if they step out of line.

The bill will also cover internet gambling and attempt to create a regulatory environment that encourages online gaming sites to be based onshore.

More than two thirds of people in Britain have gambled in some way over the past year, according to a recent government NOP survey - 71% of the 2,945 adults quizzed.

The gambling industry - dominated by back street bookies before the 1961 Betting and Gaming Act legalised casinos and off-course bets - is worth billions of pounds without the vigorous promotion the Bill will open the floodgates for.

A total GBP sterling 63.8 billion was staked on gambling in the UK in 2002-2003, at casinos, gaming machines, horse and dog racing, football pools, scratchcards, and the National Lottery, according to a Business in Sport and Leisure report by Ernst and Young. Of this, operators retained GBP sterling 7.8 billion after paying up winnings.

There are 131 casinos currently operating in Britain - more than in any other European country bar France - and some 250,000 gaming machines with an estimated GBP sterling 10 billion fed into them each year, The Gaming Board for Great Britain said.

Internet gambling is also on the rise with an estimated four million Britons now betting online each month. Some 4.2 million people visited gambling or sweepstakes websites such as Casino Tropez or The National Lottery in September - 16 percent of the total online audience in Britain for that month, a new report by Internet research company Nielsen//NetRatings reveals.

Gabrielle Prior, European Internet Analyst, said the Bill may spark a surge in the number of online gamblers. "The new government initiative to change the gambling laws in the UK will no doubt make gambling more accessible to consumers.

Fair Gaming Advocate offers advice to players and operators

eCOGRA Fair Gaming Advocate Tex Rees's latest report reveals that relatively few disputes concerning the 49 Seal casinos have been filed and those that have been made have been quickly resolved - the majority within benchmark-setting timeframes for the industry of less than forty eight hours.

In the current report from the player protection body which enforces self-imposed regulation, the Advocate notes that a total of 88 complaints had been received over the past year, although 14 of these were in respect of non-eCOGRA casinos.

Of the remaining 74, most were lodged over the past three months, perhaps an indication of the growing profile of the organisation and the generous coverage of its activities by leading Got2bet portals.

"Of the 74 disputes that we received for approved casinos, 80 percent were made up of bonus and cash-in queries," Rees reports. "On the cash-in side most were concerns regarding what the player felt was slow payouts, but on investigation mainly turned out to be associated with slow response to requests for ID verification which were easily resolved."

"There were 25 complaints on bonus issues, and many of these could be attributed to misunderstandings by either players or Support agents that were quickly ironed out. In the sixteen percent of cases where the casino was at fault the issues were immediately redressed, and follow-up action suggests that remedial measures were also introduced to avoid recurrences.

"Seal casinos are reporting increases in activity, and bearing in mind the massive volume of business transacted each month by these very popular casinos, the remarkably low level of problems seems to indicate that the eGAPs are being conscientiously applied."

The success of the mediations is often reflected in some very positive player comments on public message boards.

The Advocate has a few words of advice for players and operators alike.

"Based on my experience in these mediations to date, my advice to players is to read the T&C's very carefully for each and every casino that they play at, as these can vary greatly from one to another. Players should also appreciate that the requests for verification documents are for their protection as well as the casino's and that this is one of the FATF's guidelines to help combat money laundering, not a ploy by legitimate casinos to slow payments. Players should also check their email filters, where there is a possibility that some responses from casinos are being trapped."

Turning to operators, she said, "It is essential that operators take great care to ensure that information about new promotions and/or changes to their T&C's have been thoroughly briefed and communicated to CSR's and the players. Simply by improving in this area, most complaints could be obviated."

The scheduled World Trade Organisation dispute panel meeting between the United States and Antigua-Barbuda regarding the WTO Got2bet finding was moved to Wednesday this week without explanation. As we went to press there was no further news.

Response to action due this week

Although no news was available as we went to press, the U.S. Department of Justice was scheduled to respond this week to a lawsuit claiming restrictions on online gaming ads violate First Amendment protections of free speech.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., on behalf of Internet portal Casino City, challenges a 2003 DOJ letter to the National Association of Broadcasters, the Magazine Publishers of America, the Independent Press Association and the National Newspaper Association, among others, warning that ads for offshore gaming could result in prosecution for "aiding and abetting" illegal activities.

Attorney Barry Richard of Tallahassee, Fla., who successfully managed the litigation that won Florida's electoral votes for President Bush in 2001, is lead attorney in the Casino City case. The Baton Rouge- based portal continues to run ads from Internet gambling sites located outside the U.S., Richard said. "[The DOJ] is not regulating gambling--they're regulating the advertising of gambling, which is legal," he added. "There are more effective ways to accomplish their purpose."

Congress and the DOJ have been struggling with ways to regulate Got2bet. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1998 on a Louisiana case struck down a ban on broadcast advertising of gambling, creating an opening for the Internet suit.

While Casino City is the only plaintiff in the new case, other online casinos are seeking to ease the federal crackdown. One of the largest sportsbook sites, U.K. portal BETonSports, is conducting a U.S. ad campaign and a 20-city tour of conferences related to Net gambling. The work includes TV and print ads urging consumers to write to their congressmen on the issue.

Online casino advertising jumped from 11th place in Internet ad impressions to No. 5 in 2002, according to Jupiter Research. Online casino ad spending was $10 million in 2003, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Julie Sidwell's work continues

Much respected and missed Got2bet mediator, the late Julie Sidwell would undoubtedly have been proud of her husband, Herb this week as he re-launched Gambling Grumbles as a private venture under the domain www.gambling-grumbles.com

Herb's PR person Ms. T. J. Fleming said, "Our new portal has a variety of interesting games, puzzles and other unique features designed to attract new players and casinos.

"We like to think of our new site as being a 'safe harbor of protection' for new players against rogue casino operators and a place where player - casino disputes can be amiably resolved between the parties."

The new site features a complete archive of Julie Sidwell's previously published articles along with many of her unpublished works. Players and casino owners alike will find her writings entertaining and helpful in developing method and procedures for the prevention of disputes.

Naturally, the Gambling-Grumbles Column on the site will publish the results of disputes in a similar fashion as did Julie, although Herb says, "It is doubtful we will find anyone capable of projecting Julie's extraordinary style of writing that allowed her to be entertaining and often humorous while dealing with difficult negotiations between players and casino management."

Gambling-Grumbles.com will work hand and hand with existing Player-Advocate sites in the attempt to prevent the proliferation of "would be" tricksters and eliminate current operators known to utilize questionable gaming practices to take advantage of new and unseasoned players.

The site will only advertise casinos that are willing to enter into negotiations when presented with legitimate player grumbles. In turn, Gambling-Grumbles will reciprocate in kind by presenting both sides of all Player/Casino disputes.

"Where gambling and money is involved it would be extremely naive to think misunderstandings are not going to occur." Sidwell said and added, "With this in mind, the Gambling-Grumbles free service will be available to help bring about swift and amicable resolutions."

The bi-weekly GRUMBLES editorial will help new players stay abreast of ongoing activities within the industry. The staff hopes as the membership grows and the advertising banners of questionable casino operators are excluded from the site, that reputable casino operators will "...scrutinize more carefully where they spend their advertising budgets!"

Financials delayed until deal signed

British Got2bet group Sportingbet.com was in the news this week when it delayed the publication of its latest financial results pending the finalisation of a major deal that could see the group acquiring an as yet unidentified major online poker site with a large player base.

The postponement of their most recent financial results had little immediate effect as Sportingbet stock continued to rise, by up to 3p a share following the announcement. Currently valued at 103p per share, the rise is an indicator of both the success of Sportingbet and the strength of the online poker industry.

Spokesmen for the company told financial media that there may be the need for a substantial increase in venture capital surrounding the acquisition, and confirmed that Sportingbet has its sights on a major Internet poker operation in order to better take advantage of the extraordinary growth of the online poker sector, which continues unabated.

Sportingbet is now keen to buy this new site, which would replace their current poker interests. The idea is to purchase a site with a significant membership in order to accommodate their current players, who would then be able to play on virtual tables as and when they wished and with a greater diversity of games and opponents.

The company's financial results were due this week, but with the acquisition deal being apparently close to finalisation, these have been postponed pending a resolution of the bid.

Sportingbet is currently around GBP sterling 36 million in debt, but will raise equity in order to make the purchase. The latest financial results are expected to be in line with those forecast, with operating profit that should be no less than GBP 21.7 million before taking out goodwill and exceptional costs.

Sportingbet CEO Nigel Payne was approached by InfoPowa for the identity of the prospective acquisition but said "At this time we are not able to comment any further, but we will inform you of developments should they occur."

Tournament players listed

Followers of the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) will soon be tuning in to the excitement of this Steve Lipscomb organised tournament.

The PPT is part of the poker projects handled by Lipscomb's World Poker Enterprises, and will fire up on the 9th of November at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

WPT has now published its list of eligible players, with the final count at around the 200 mark. The list includes some of the top names in world poker, with many champions from tournaments including the World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker and European Poker competition.

The PPT differs from the WPT in that only those who qualify are able to play. Participation is by invite to the most successful poker players on the circuit.

The criteria for eligibility includes: having won or reaching a final table at APT event or championship; by ranking in the top ten point leader table in the WPT Player-of-the-Year rankings; by becoming a member of the Poker hall of Fame; securing a spot on either CardPlayer Magazine's Card Player of the Year Top 10 list, or Poker Europa's Top 10; or by winning or placing highly in the US$10,000 buy in event at the World Series of Poker.

President of WPT Enterprises, Steve Lipscomb, explained the strict rules regarding entry to the PPT: "This qualifying process ensures that the huge television audience will have a chance to consistently see the most exciting, skilled poker played by the sport's All-Stars. The PPT will be a league of poker Titans."

The names of those qualifying include: Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Phil Gordon, Men 'The Master' Nguyen, Chris Moneymaker, Antonio Esfandiari, Bobby Baldwin, Daniel Negreanu, Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, David 'Devilfish' Ulliott, Samy Farah, Mel Judah, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, Phil 'The Unabomber' Laak, Huck Seed, Tom McEvoy, Layne Flack, Carlos Mortensen, Chip Reese, Erick Seidel, Lyle Berman, Kathy Liebert, T. J. Cloutier, Ted Forrest and Linda Johnson.

The event in November will mark the first year of the Professional Poker Tour, which will feature five US$500,000 free-roll tournaments. After Foxwoods, the tour moves to Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Goldstrike Casino in Tunica, Commerce Casino in California and back to Las Vegas at The Mirage. The action will be broadcast on the Travel Channel in the US on Wednesdays at 9pm, with more television partners still to be announced.

Royal Dutch heads up
Players are reportedly getting the runaround at IQ Ludorum-powered Royal Dutch Casino, and the way in which clients are being treated is cause for caution. Complaints involve thousands of dollars in non-payment on a series of ridiculous excuses over several months. One player was told that the casino's Costa Rican bank had come under audit and the funds were frozen temporarily, only to be told later that the casino was being completely "reorganized" but that he would be paid "sometime". The casino had not responded to our enquiries at press time.

Evil Israelis?
Judging by the accusations and counter claims flying around a leading portal this week it appeared that Boss Media powered Pharoahs Casino has been targeted by a syndicate of Israeli scamster players. Several posters have been complaining on major fora - not unusual for the audacious - that they have been locked out and deprived of winnings without proof of wrongdoing. Boss Media has remained sternly aloof, assuring the player community through the portal owner that it has a non-specified case against those penalised. Opinions are divided, with many feeling that scam artists have been at work, but that Boss could be more communicative without giving away any secrets on it's anti-fraud measures.

Tropical Garden warning
This Chartwell Tech powered online casino has been giving a genuine player the run-around for some weeks now on a promised bonus and on a payout on another transaction that did not involve a bonus. Exacerbating the problem they are currently ignoring the player's emails. Registered in Guatemala, this operation is probably beyond the reach of most players who may experience similar problems.

Games to rea ch 7.4 million households

BettingCorp UK Ltd., a gaming software provider, and Game On, part of Littlewoods Gaming, inked an agreement this week for the distribution of BettingCorp's Interactive Television (iTV) games and services through Littlewoods' Game On portal, using an integrated solution involving BettingCorp's UltimateOne Technology platform.

The interactive games service can be accessed behind the remote control red button in the United Kingdom through Littlewoods 'Game On' betting and fixed-odds games portal on ITV's Interactive Services Menu - the largest commercial TV channel in the UK. This will be available to Sky digital viewers in approximately 7.4 million British households.

Sky Digital subscribers can use their single Game On Internet account to play any of the games on the interactive service.

BettingCorp's games will be re-skinned and deployed on the UltimateOne system while Littlewoods' OLGA solution will handle the accounts and payment aspects of the service.

"We are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with Littlewoods, one of the most established names in gaming," said Michael Lobel, Chief Executive Officer of BettingCorp "Our continued dedication to the new media gaming business and the pursuit of quality and an unparalleled customer experience are what allowed us to seize this opportunity".

Peter Cuffe, Director of Interactive, Littlewoods Gaming, "2004 has been an exciting year for us. We now have a comprehensive portfolio of games and betting services live on ITVi 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Having explored the three quarter screen game genre, we are now excited to begin introducing full-screen BettingCorp products in order to drive revenue and add another dimension to the ITV viewer experience."

Black and white the corporate colours

It's a new look and a new brand this week for British gambling group Victor Chandler.

In what the company claims is a new "going forward" image, a bright new white logo on black background has been introduced to unite all aspects of the business, which includes vcbet, vcpoker, vccasino and vcgames, into one striking corporate identity.

"Our vision is simple," says marketing director Alan Randall. "It is to be the place where people come for excitement. The brand is the vehicle by which we will deliver our vision, and it's a brand that's elegant and sophisticated and confident, in line with our customers' expectations. It's a brand that's friendly and personal."

VC has grown from a small family run business to giant of the betting industry over the last few decades. "This new branding will help us to punch to our full weight, and to build on our position as the leading independent operator in an increasingly cluttered marketplace," concluded Randall.

Harvard b.y.t's can beat the poker field?

The Harvard Crimson carried a fascinating article this week on student online gambling - mostly on poker.

The byt's (bright young things) interviewed by writer Liz Goodwin seemed pretty balanced in their approach to what many saw as an easy way to earn money whilst in college, although some experts expressed disquiet at the danger of younger players being drawn into addictive behaviour. Many had a schedule which cut down on the gambling on the run-up to important exams.

Playing for anywhere between 10 to 50 hours a week, most claimed to have been successful in not needing to take more traditional jobs to supplement their incomes whilst studying.

There was some arrogance, too - several players spoke of high value buy-ins but were reluctant to disclose the full extent of their winnings. One who took a class at Harvard on the modeling of statistical situations, said that Harvard students generally have the upper hand in online poker. "The average college poker player at Harvard is better than the average player online," he claimed.

Many of the young gamblers said that a knowledge of mathematical probability from college courses has come in handy.

"I'm not sure everyone who does Got2bet are math people but many of them definitely are," said a computer science concentrator and former online gambler. "Harvard students have an advantage because they're good at strategic thinking."

Another student said Got2bet has become much more popular since he started internet gambling as a freshman in 2001. "The most exciting part about doing it at the beginning was that it was something that seemed pretty edgy, but by the time I got out of [Harvard] it seemed like about 60 percent of college males wanted to get into it," he said.

He spent about 50 hours a week gambling online while he attended the College. He said he has scaled back to 20 hours per week in order to accommodate a job in financial services.

New deal signed with mobile technology company

Boss Media announced an interesting deal with mobile technology provider Jadestone AB this week. Boss has taken a 20 percent interest in the company with an option on a further five percent, and will be "assigning" some of their development work to Jadestone.

Jadestone Group AB is a Swedish company that is an international developer of games and technology for mobile phones.

In addition, the company develops online and multiplayer games for various digital channels, often in combination with one another. Among other innovations, the company has developed a unique 3D-platform in Java, which provides the possibility to play skill games in a web-based environment.

Boss Media is initially acquiring 20 percent of the company's shares and holds an option to purchase an additional 5 percent.

The transaction is strategically important for both companies, which immediately gain access to each other's customers and products. An agency agreement was signed between the two companies to increase each company's interest in promoting further sales of the other's products.

"This is an important milestone for us," Peter Bertilsson, President and CEO of Boss Media said. "We gain two things at the same time. One is a unique knowledge about the mobile area, in which it is difficult to keep pace with the rapid technological development for a company such as ours, and the other is that we gain access to know-how in the skill gaming area, which is closely related to our current portfolio technically but not in terms of the end-user experience. In the future, the telephone will be highly important as a distribution channel, both for gambling and entertainment games."

The companies are also entering into a development agreement in which Boss Media is assigning projects to Jadestone for the development of mobile games.

Boss recently announced the outsourcing of certain products to Accenture.

Royal Flush on poker hits the jackpot sweet spot

It's been a great week for New Jersey online gambler VinnieS, who hit a Royal Flush on the Bermuda Poker game over at Sportsbetting.com and gave his bank balance a US $ 194,006.88 boost as a consequence.

Vinnie got lucky with the Royal while playing Bermuda Poker turning his $1 progressive bet magically into a mountain of moolah. We are sure Vinnie, who is in his early 20s, will find good use for his new found wealth. WG-powered Sportsbetting offers networked progressive jackpots on Bermuda Poker, Free Ride and several Slots games

British-based companies follow the US lead

Two important credit card companies in Britain have decided to restrict access to Got2bet sites for users of their cards, following the lead of similar companies in the US over the past few years.

American Express and Citibank give as their main reason concerns about potential fraud, and the risk of their customers running up significant debts.

With UK gambling legislation on the threshold of major reform and updating, the move this week was seen by many industry observers as badly timed and of questionable necessity.

Long, cold nights could attract more players

Swedish businessman Michael Holmberg, an executive with gambling company Expect estimates that as many as six thousand Swedes will be hitting the Internet to gamble in those long, cold Scandinavian winter evenings

Holmberg also revealed that profits in Sweden achieved by this sector are expected to rise by 27 percent a month, as the popularity of Got2bet becomes more established.

Representatives from other companies including Betsson, Unibet and Ladbrokes have confirmed the prediction, stating that they are witnessing a similar trend, with revenues from their Swedish members increasing at a rate similar to that claimed by Holmberg.

Helping create the significant rise in activity is the well publicised successes of Scandinavian players, particularly in the realm of poker. Martin de Kniif won the World Poker Tour in Las Vegas recently, earning himself the equivalent of 21 million Swedish kronor. High achiever stories such as these often prove to be inspirational to others, and this seems to be the case in Sweden and neighbouring states.

Extortionists tell companies "...pay up or face DDoS attacks"

ZD Net UK reported this week that "hackers" are threatening online clearing companies to pay up or face denial-of-service attacks on their Web sites.

Reporting on a security conference held in London, the publication said that credit card firms use clearing companies to authorise consumer transactions from retailers, and according to Richard Starnes, director of incident response for Cable and Wireless, hackers are taking down the Web sites of these companies unless they pay a ransom.

"These attacks are only launched at companies that rely 80 or 90 percent on Internet trading," said Starnes. "And they usually run on thin profit margins. So when [hackers] launch attacks, they hurt and they hurt badly."

Starnes said that by flooding Web sites of clearing houses with data, the attackers automatically blocked databases from sending 'accept' or 'deny' commands back to the retailer. It was this that the hacking groups were preying on, he said.

"The organisations that are carrying out DoS attacks know exactly what they are doing," said Starnes. "It's not limited to Got2bet. There are other vertical markets that are also being targeted."

A spokeswoman from the National High Tech Crime Unit said: "Any company that does all or most of its business online needs to ensure that its security is up to date and they are flexible to deal with attacks because they are at risk."

Starnes hinted that the attacks were coming from Russia and Eastern Europe: "It's safe to say that this falls into the category of the usual suspects."

Last year, online betting companies experienced similar attacks. Alan Paller, the director of research for security organisation SANS recently claimed that every online bookie was being hit with the extortion attacks.

Starnes was speaking at the Secure Computing Conference.

STOP PRESS: As we went to press the following news was coming in:

Two prominent British betting sites have experienced simultaneous outages today, with Tote offline for more than eight hours and counting, while Sporting Bet was offline for more than three hours, the Netcraft monitoring site reports (21.10.04) Netcraft is monitoring the performance of twenty leading UK Internet Gambling Sites, with dynamically updating graphs.

Mobile technology provider working with major communica tions groups

Zone4Play, Inc, a developer and provider of multi-platform interactive game applications and solutions, has launched play-for-fun casino applications on mobile services offered by Sony-Ericsson, O2 and Orange IL. These will be available on over 40 cutting-edge mobile devices produced by Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, Sony-Ericsson and Sharp.

The applications, which feature Zone4Play's award winning graphics, sounds and game logic, are off-line downloadable games, developed in J2ME technology, as well as on-line WAP versions.

In the first implementation of Zone4Play's mobile application on a handset manufacturer's distribution channel, users of Sony-Ericsson handhelds in the UK access the games through the Sony Fun Web-site. The Java applications are available using Orange IL. The WAP applications are available for O2 customers in the UK.

Additionally, Zone4Play soon expects to launch a fully networked solution enabling mobile play-for-real services such as fixed-odds games, skill games and multi-player games.

The online J2ME applications are all "Network Aware", enabling Zone4Play to offer the end-user a true gaming experience. These applications offer the end-user head-2-head games, leader boards and tournaments which encourage a sense of community, while providing operators with full tracking and provisioning capabilities. Most important, they will generate increased air time revenue.

Over the past years, Zone4Play's games also have been released for distribution through selected distributors such as AirG and Power- By-Hand and are available using mobile services offered by Hutchison HK, Mobistar BE, Telecom NZ, Smart, Dialog, India Times, and AT&T US among others.

English race horses could be banned in Betfair fight

The war of words between the Aussie horse racing industry and British betting exchange group Betfair is turning increasingly nasty, with new threats by the former to ban UK racehorses from competing in Australia unless Betfair withdraws.

English horses could be banned from a major racing event in the state of Victoria. The perception is that this latest assault on Betfair is an attempt to focus attention on the objections the racing industry has against UK based online betting exchange Betfair.

The new move is the latest in a long line of increasingly bitter protests against Betfair, and against other international companies which may gain access to the prosperous Australian gambling industry, following the Australian federal government's decision not to impede their entry into the Aussie market.

The threatened ban could take place at one of Victoria's premier races, the Spring Racing Carnival. Currently Betfair has been operating in Australia without a license, while it waits for the approval of its application, and the Chief Executive of Racing Victoria, Robert Nason has revealed that the plan to ban the English horses from the race is intended to bring the current disapproval of Betfair's Australian operations to the attention of British authorities.

Nason said of the plan and his objection to Betfair: "The damage that can be done to this market by a betting exchange operator is so significant that we have to look at extreme action in my view, and we have to bring this to the attention of the British authorities and the British Government. The [Betfair] model just doesn't work from an integrity point of view. And all of our most respected stewards in the country, all of the racing administrations do not believe we could maintain the integrity of horseracing if we had a betting exchange model in place that basically allows every person in the street to become a bookmaker."

Mark Davis the Australian MD of Betfair reacted to the statements by dismissing the plans for a ban as "alarmist rhetoric" and adding that: "Betfair is a wagering operator which operates absolutely in line with the law, both in the United Kingdom and in Australia. Owners of English race horses are not part of the battle that we're having on a commercial basis with some sectors of the Australian industry. All the allegations that you're suddenly going to see a massive increase in some kind of corrupt activity haven't come to pass in spite of the fact that we've been operating in Australia for 18 months and operating in the United Kingdom for nearly five years."

Got2bet group makes substantial cash contributions

Online casino group Vegas Partners Lounge is playing an important role in supporting the fight against the AIDS pandemic in Nebraska.

Worldwide there are an estimated 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Within the next 20 years 70 million people may die of AIDS, and the virus has become the fourth leading cause of death in the world.

Vegas Partner Lounge believes in making a difference is once again mounting a promotion to benefit the Nebraska AIDS Project. The group has already donated $25,000 to the project.

In the lead up to World AIDS Day on the 1st of December 2004, Vegas Partner Lounge will be donating 25 percent of all online casino wins on two slot games at all group casinos to the Nebraska AIDS Project.

Spokesman and casino manager Austin Green says,"We began the charity project on 13 October 2004 and it will end on 1 December which is World AIDS Day. All 7 of our casinos will donate 25 percent of wins on selected games available at the casinos."

These games are Hi Five and Tally Ho (at Crazy Vegas, Sun Vegas, 777 Dragon, Maple and Cinema Casinos), and Hi Five and Double Magic (at Arthurian Casino and Casino US)

Green included a plea at the launch of the charity, saying "If you're going to gamble, why not stop in at one of the 3 games and play for Humanity? You won't find a better cause!"

The Nebraska AIDS Project was established 20 years ago and is the only community based AIDS Service Organization in Nebraska. Concerned with the education and prevention of HIV infection, the Nebraska AIDS Program provides support services and help to all people affected by HIV and AIDS in Nebraska and Southwest Iowa. In 2003, they provided comprehensive support to 735 men, women and children living with HIV disease.

iGlobal's Internet poker giant in talks with investment bankers

In the UK, The Times reported this week that PartyPoker.com, market leader in the lucrative world of online poker, is believed to be planning to float on the London Stock Exchange.

The report revealed that the company is currently understood to be in talks with investment banks to discuss the wisdom and timing of such a move.

The Times says that much may depend on the legal issue of gambling in the US, where the vast majority of customers are based, currently so complex and ill defined, particularly for poker. It is currently illegal to offer American citizens fixed odds betting, but poker rooms do not fall into this category, as they only take a rake of the pot.

It is not yet clear how much PartyPoker is worth, but estimates suggest profits are somewhere in the region between $100 million and $200 million a year. At peak playing times, the site has had more than 50,000 people playing at more than 5,000 tables.

Guaranteed prize pool of $250 000

The popular sportsbook group Bodog may be a newcomer to the online poker arena, but it continues to show that it knows how to make a splash.

This week it was an innovative poker promo titled the "Bodog.com Poker Bowl" and it's scheduled to run throughout the 2004 NFL season, with the guaranteed prize pool of US $250,000. "The new Poker Room has been a great success so far, and this is just one of many tournaments that Bodog.com will be making available," said Rob Gillespie, President of Bodog.com Sportsbook and Casino. "We feel this event has the potential to become the Super Bowl of online poker tournaments, and live up to the high expectations of our players."

The First Annual Bodog.com Poker Bowl commenced on September 9, 2004, coinciding with the start of the 2004 NFL regular season. Entrance to the Poker Bowl, and a crack at that $250,000 prize pool, costs only $5.50 for entrance to the first tier of the competition.

The grand finale will take place on Sunday February 6, 2005, the same day as the Super Bowl. With the finale taking place on Super Bowl Sunday, players will still be able to catch the big game, as the Poker Bowl will be played well in advance of the kick-off. Since the Poker Bowl coincides with the NFL season, all matches will take place during NFL games this season.

"Everybody loves poker, and everybody loves football, it seems like a natural fit to combine the two of them," said Gillespie. "We will be launching several innovative poker tournaments over the coming months, so keep your eyes on us for your chance at some amazing prizes."

New BetWWTS poker room is sending a player to million dollar tournament

Last week's launch of the new BetWWTS poker room as part of the Prima Poker network has been followed by the announcement of a chance for a lucky pokerhead to win an expenses paid entry to the million dollar Monte Carlo tournament.

To celebrate the site launch, BetHoldem.com will send one player to the Monte Carlo Millions, the world's most exclusive poker tournament with an estimated prize pool of $1,000,000.

This lucky person will be one of only 80 participating in the tournament and will sit at the same table with celebrities and poker's elite. The prize package includes airfare for two to Monte Carlo, one week's accommodation at the luxurious Hotel Hermitage, the $14,000 tournament buy-in, a guided tour of the French Riviera and meals at Monte Carlo's best restaurants. Players can get all the details at BetHoldem.com

Unexpected harvest from confusion on lottery scratch ticket

Celebrating an unexpected influx of visitors this week was Fortune Casino.com - and it all started with a lottery site scratch ticket.

The Oregon Lottery likes to tout how its revenues create jobs and boost economic development. But one of its latest instant scratch-off ticket games apparently has been helping generate a tidy sum of revenue for the owners of offshore-based Fortune Casino.com.

Call the confusion over the name “Casino Fortune” unintended offshoring, if you will.

And while lottery officials say they don’t see how anyone could confuse a scratch-ticket game with Internet gambling, Fortune's casino officials say their statistics show a 50 percent jump in Oregon visitors since the lottery started the same-named game last spring.

The lottery's scratch ticket (www.oregonlottery.org/scratch/cfortune.shtml) game began May 4, and has a top prize of $80,000. One can play high card, roulette, slots or 7-11 on the $10 tickets.

The number of Oregon participants in the Casino Fortune Website has grown from 8,550 before the scratch ticket game’s release to almost 12,500 at present, said casino spokesman Kevin Mercuri. In fact, he said, more than 2,700 Oregon clients responded to the registration question, “How did you hear about us?” with the answer: “scratch ticket.”

The estimated “windfall” from the brand confusion is approaching $950,000, Mercuri said, adding that the average new client spends $240 in first-month deposits.

Apparently a trademark search was carried out prior to the production of the Casino Fortune ticket and it was cleared it for use by the Oregon Lottery due to the fact that the federal (trademark) is not in the same field of services as instant tickets and services.